mailinabox README

The project's README from github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox. As one markdown file: README.md.

Mail-in-a-Box

By @JoshData and contributors.

Mail-in-a-Box helps individuals take back control of their email by defining a one-click, easy-to-deploy SMTP+everything else server: a mail server in a box.

Please see https://mailinabox.email for the project's website and setup guide!

Our goals are to:

Additionally, this project has a Code of Conduct, which supersedes the goals above. Please review it when joining our community.

In The Box

Mail-in-a-Box turns a fresh Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 64-bit machine into a working mail server by installing and configuring various components.

It is a one-click email appliance. There are no user-configurable setup options. It "just works."

The components installed are:

It also includes system management tools:

Internationalized domain names are supported and configured easily (but SMTPUTF8 is not supported, unfortunately).

It also supports static website hosting since the box is serving HTTPS anyway. (To serve a website for your domains elsewhere, just add a custom DNS "A" record in you Mail-in-a-Box's control panel to point domains to another server.)

For more information on how Mail-in-a-Box handles your privacy, see the security details page.

Installation

See the setup guide for detailed, user-friendly instructions.

For experts, start with a completely fresh (really, I mean it) Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 64-bit machine. On the machine...

Clone this repository and checkout the tag corresponding to the most recent release (which you can find in the tags or releases lists on GitHub):

$ git clone https://github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox
$ cd mailinabox
$ git checkout TAGNAME

Begin the installation.

$ sudo setup/start.sh

The installation will install, uninstall, and configure packages to turn the machine into a working, good mail server.

For help, DO NOT contact Josh directly --- I don't do tech support by email or tweet (no exceptions).

Post your question on the discussion forum instead, where maintainers and Mail-in-a-Box users may be able to help you.

Note that while we want everything to "just work," we can't control the rest of the Internet. Other mail services might block or spam-filter email sent from your Mail-in-a-Box. This is a challenge faced by everyone who runs their own mail server, with or without Mail-in-a-Box. See our discussion forum for tips about that.

Contributing and Development

Mail-in-a-Box is an open source project. Your contributions and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING to get started.

The Acknowledgements

This project was inspired in part by the "NSA-proof your email in 2 hours" blog post by Drew Crawford, Sovereign by Alex Payne, and conversations with @shevski, @konklone, and @GregElin.

Mail-in-a-Box is similar to iRedMail and Modoboa.

The History

mailinabox (mail-in-a-box/mailinabox)

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Mailinabox
What is this?It turns a fresh machine into a complete, self-hosted email server — SMTP, IMAP, webmail, contacts and calendar sync, DNS, spam filtering and backups — with a single install command, so individuals can run their own email instead of relying on providers.
Is this a hosted service I sign up for, or software I run myself?It is free open-source software you install on your own server — there is no hosted offering. The installer installs, uninstalls and configures packages to reshape a fresh machine into a working mail appliance.
How do I turn a server into a Mail-in-a-Box?Clone this repository, check out the latest release tag, and run 'sudo setup/start.sh' — the script does the rest. Afterwards a web control panel (also exposed as an API) manages mail users, aliases, DNS records and backups.
What kind of machine do I need to start from?A completely fresh (really, the README insists) 64-bit Ubuntu 22.04 LTS machine — no other distro, no leftovers, and no user-configurable setup options; it is designed to just work.
Will Gmail and other providers actually accept mail from my server?Not guaranteed: other mail services might block or spam-filter email sent from your box — a challenge for everyone who self-hosts mail, with or without this project. The discussion forum collects tips on dealing with it.
Does my email stay on hardware I control?Yes — mail, contacts and calendars all live on your own box. Promoting decentralization and privacy on the web is a stated project goal, and a security details page documents how your privacy is handled.
What exactly gets installed on the machine?Postfix (SMTP), Dovecot (IMAP), Nextcloud for CardDAV/CalDAV plus z-push ActiveSync, Roundcube webmail, SpamAssassin and postgrey, nsd4 DNS with automatic SPF/DKIM/DMARC/DNSSEC records, Let's Encrypt certificates, plus duplicity backups, ufw firewall, fail2ban and munin monitoring.
Can the box also host a website?Yes — static website hosting is included, since the box serves HTTPS anyway. For domains hosted elsewhere, just add a custom DNS A record in the control panel pointing them at another server.
How much can I tweak the setup?Very little, by design: there are no user-configurable setup options, and avoiding power-user customization is an explicit project goal so the configuration stays automated, auditable and idempotent.
What projects are similar to this?The author notes Mail-in-a-Box is similar to iRedMail and Modoboa. It began in 2013 by combining his own mail server config with the 'NSA-proof your email in 2 hours' recipe and the Sovereign project.
What are similar projects?mailcow-dockerized, docker-mailserver, stalwart, odysseus, BillionMail, omamail, mail, xdp-dns-evadeproxy
Which topics is it in?mailserver, mail, imap, smtp, ubuntu, decentralized, backup, dns, tls, email, monitoring, networking
Creator
mail-in-a-box
Size
3.8 MB
Stars
15.4K
Updated
CommitSep 26Releasev77Sep 26
Age
13y
Commits · 90 Days